Two months ahead of its North American release, tickets for the upcoming Star Wars film will go on sale this Monday.
Bloomberg reports tickets for J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: The Force Awakens will go on sale immediately following the release of a new trailer for the film, which will air during Monday Night Football on Disney-owned ESPN Monday evening.
Despite the film’s December release date, Disney, which acquired previous franchise owner Lucasfilm Ltd. for $4 billion in 2012, is capitalizing on the buzz surrounding the film with an ad campaign aimed at attracting a new generation of fans.
Bloomberg spoke to online ticket retailer Fandango about the company’s plans to make tickets available so far ahead of the release.
“Fans have been super excited ever since the first ’Force Awakens’ teaser trailer dropped,” said the company’s Dave Karger. “It’s been over 10 years since a ‘Star Wars’ movie was introduced in theaters.”
Awakens is the seventh in the franchise, but the first in the series since Disney took over. The film is forecasted to become one of the highest-grossing movies of all time.
Benjamin Swinburne, an analyst for Morgan Stanley, projected in June the film could become the third highest-grossing film ever, and could take in $1.95 billion in worldwide ticket sales, per Bloomberg.
A number of select theaters nationwide will be participating in a Star Wars Marathon Event, which will air all seven of the films in succession.
Other promotions are available for those eager for the film’s debut, and a new generation of toys and other merchandise were released in September at an event dubbed “Force Friday.”
The movie will debut in the U.S. and Canada on Dec. 18, and will feature most of the original cast, including Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher.